Localized moving breathers in a 2-D hexagonal lattice

We show for the first time that highly localized in-plane breathers can propagate in specific directions with minimal lateral spreading in a model 2-D hexagonal non-linear lattice. The lattice is subject to an on-site potential in addition to longitudinal nonlinear inter-particle interactions. This study investigates the prediction that stable breather-like solitons could be formed as a result of energetic scattering events in a given layered crystal and would propagate in atomic-chain directions in certain atomic planes. This prediction arose from a long-term study of previously unexplained dark lines in natural crystals of muscovite mica.Comment: 6 pages, 2 Figs. Submitted to PR

Modelling the reliability of search operations within the UK through Bayesian belief networks

This paper uses a Bayesian belief networks (BBN) methodology to assess the reliability of search and rescue (SAR) operations within the UK coastguard (maritime rescue) coordination centers. This is an extension of earlier work, which investigated the rationale of the government's decision to close a number of coordination centers. The previous study made use of secondary data sources and employed a binary logistic regression methodology to support the analysis. This study focused on the collection of primary data through a structured elicitation process, which resulted in the construction of a BBN. The main findings of the study are that approaches such as logistic regression are complementary to BBN's. The former provided a more objective assessment of associations between variables but was restricted in the level of detail that could be explicitly expressed within the model due to lack of available data. The latter method provided a much more detailed model but the validity of the numeric assessments was more questionable. Each method can be used to inform and defend the development of the other. The paper describes in detail the elicitation process employed to construct the BBN and reflects on the potential for bias

The effects on arterial haemoglobin oxygen saturation and on shunt of increasing cardiac output with dopamine or dobutamine during one-lung ventilation

Publisher's copy made available with the permission of the publisher © Australian Society of AnaesthetistsTheoretically, if the cardiac output were increased in the presence of a given intrapulmonary shunt, the arterial saturation should improve as the venous oxygen extraction per ml of blood decreases if the total oxygen consumption remains constant. Previous work demonstrated that this was not achieved with adrenaline or isoprenaline as increased shunting negated any benefit from improved cardiac output and mixed venous oxygen content. However, pharmacological stimulation of cardiac output and venous oxygen without any increase in shunt should achieve the goal of improved arterial oxygenation. To test this hypothesis, seven pigs were subjected to one-lung ventilation and infused on separate occasions, with dopamine and with dobutamine in random order to increase the cardiac output. The mixed venous oxygen content, shunt fraction, oxygen consumption and arterial oxygen saturation were measured. With both dopamine and dobutamine there was a consistent rise in venous oxygen content. However, with dopamine, the mean shunt rose from 28% to 42% and with dobutamine, the mean shunt rose from 45% to 59% (both changes P<0.01). With dopamine, the mean arterial oxygen saturation fell by 4.7%, and with dobutamine by 2.9%, but neither fall was statistically significant. It is concluded that any benefit to arterial saturation which might occur from a dopamine- or dobutamine-induced increase in mixed venous oxygen content during one-lung ventilation is offset by increased shunting. During one-lung anaesthesia, there would appear to be no benefit to arterial saturation in increasing cardiac output with an infusion of either dopamine or dobutamine.W. J. Russell, M. F. Jameshttp://www.aaic.net.au/Article.asp?D=200331

An evaluation of the relative efficacy of an open airway, an oxygen reservoir and continuous positive airway pressure 5 cmH2O on the non-ventilated lung

Publisher's copy made available with the permission of the publisher © Australian Society of AnaesthetistsThe aim of this study, during one-lung ventilation, was to evaluate if oxygenation could be improved by use of a simple oxygen reservoir or application of 5 cmH2O continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to the non-ventilated lung compared with an open airway. Twenty-three patients with lung malignancy, undergoing thoracotomy requiring at least 60 minutes of one-lung ventilation before lung lobe excision, were studied. After routine induction and establishment of one-lung ventilation, the three treatments were applied in turn to the same patient in a sequence selected randomly. The first treatment was repeated as a fourth treatment and these results of the repeated treatment averaged to minimize the effect of slow changes. Arterial oxygenation was measured by an arterial blood gas 15 minutes after the application of each treatment. Twenty patients completed the study. Mean PaO2 (in mmHg) was 210.3 (SD 105.5) in the 'OPEN' treatment, 186.0 (SD 109.2) in the 'RESERVOIR' treatment, and 240.5 (SD 116.0) in the 'CPAP' treatment. This overall difference was not quite significant (P=0.058, paired ANOVA), but comparison of the pairs showed that there was a significant better oxygenation only with the CPAP compared to the reservoir treatments (t=2.52, P=0.021). While the effect on the surgical field was not apparent in most patients, in one patient surgery was impeded during CPAP. Our results show that the use of a reservoir does not give oxygenation better than an open tube, and is less effective than the use of CPAP 5 cmH2O on the non-ventilated lung during one-lung ventilation.J. Slimani, W. J. Russell, C. Jurisevichttp://www.aaic.net.au/Article.asp?D=200404

High reflectivity photorefractive Bragg gratings in germania-free optical fibres

We present the first report of Bragg gratings with reflectivities exceeding 99% written in germania-fibre optical fibres by UV exposure. This result has important implications for the production of ultrashort single-frequency fibre lasers

Photosensitivity in germanosilicate fibres: electronic change or physical change?

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High reflectivity fibre gratings written by a single excimer laser pulse

We report fibre Bragg gratings with up to 65% reflectivity and bandwidths as small as 6 GHz written by a single 20 ns excimer laser pulse. Our results show that ~100% reflectivity single-pulse fibre gratings should soon be produced

Singlet Fermionic Dark Matter explains DAMA signal

It has been suggested that, considering channeling effect, the order of a few GeV dark matters which are elastically scattered from detector nuclei might be plausible candidates reconciling the DAMA annual modulation signal with the results of other null experiments. We show that Singlet Fermionic Dark Matter can be such a dark matter candidate, simultaneously providing the correct thermal relic density which is consistent with the WMAP data.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure